The San Francisco 49ers made a roster move on Wednesday, claiming linebacker Ray-Ray Armstrong off waivers, and placing Glenn Dorsey on injured reserve. Armstrong signed with the St. Louis Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2013, and appeared in 20 games before he was waived in 2014. The Oakland Raiders claimed him and he played in 11 of the final 12 games of the Raiders 2014 season. He appeared in Oakland's first ten games this season before being waived earlier this week.
Armstrong registered 17 tackles with the Raiders defense this season, and another five on special teams. He started the season as a starter, but by the end was playing exclusively special teams. He played safety in college before moving down to linebacker in the NFL. He seems best suited for ILB in the 3-4, but could just be looked at as primarily a special teams addition.
His most notable piece of news this season came when he was accused of taunting a police dog in Pittsburgh before the Steelers game. He was never charged, but a report said he "lifted his shirt, pounded on his chest and began barking" at the dog. So, there's that.
Fooch's update - Levi Damien from Silver & Black Pride had this to say about Armstring:
He lacks discipline. That's his main problem. It was the reason the Rams released him last season as well. He had stupid penalties, overruns plays, and takes bad angles. While with the Rams he was a special teams guy primarily. The Raiders, with some desperate needs at linebacker, ended up not only playing him, but giving him a few starts. The coaching staff talked him up this offseason because he was to replace the injured Sio Moore and ultimately the traded Sio Moore. He was also going to fill in until Benson Mayowa returned from his knee injury early this season. But then the Raiders signed Aldon Smith and decided to go with more 3-4 sets. Armstrong still saw the field some but was a major liability. Then there was the whole 'barking at a police dog' thing in Pittsburgh a few weeks ago that had him potentially looking at felony charges. Last week he had clearly fallen out out favor and didn't see a snap on defense. The team decided to give those snaps to rookie Ben Heeney. The team should also be getting rookie linebacker Neiron Ball back soon which essentially would render Armstrong the odd man out.